Spatiotemporal spectrum and momentum flux of the stratospheric gravity waves generated by a typhoon

Abstract

The simulation results of Typhoon Matsa (2005) by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model show that pronounced stratospheric gravity waves (GWs) are generated in the vicinity of the typhoon. Using the model output, we investigate the spatial structures and the temporal variations of the GWs through a three dimensional (3-d) spectral analysis, i.e. the spectrum with respect to two horizontal wavenumbers and frequency. We further derive the momentum flux carried by the GWs. Spectral investigation results show that the power spectral density (PSD) of the GWs exhibits a single-peaked spectrum, which consists primarily of a distinct spectrum at horizontal wavelength of ∼1000 km, time period of 12–18 h, and vertical wavelength of 7–9 km. This spectrum is different from the spectra of GWs generated by deep convections disclosed by the previous researches. Both the PSD and momentum flux spectrum are prominent in positive kh portion, which is consistent with the fact that the GWs propagate in the upstream of mean flow. Large momentum flux is found to be associated with the GWs, and the net zonal momentum flux is 0.7845×10−3 Pa at 20 km height, which can account for ∼26% of the momentum flux that is required in driving the QBO phenomenon.